{"id":14797,"date":"2025-07-23T01:31:11","date_gmt":"2025-07-23T01:31:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/14797\/"},"modified":"2025-07-23T01:31:11","modified_gmt":"2025-07-23T01:31:11","slug":"nfl-australia-2026-game-likely-date-and-teams-could-up-end-afl-finals-series-plans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/14797\/","title":{"rendered":"NFL Australia 2026 game likely date and teams, could up-end AFL finals series plans"},"content":{"rendered":"

The NFL\u2019s first venture into Australia could force the AFL into reshaping its 2026 semi-final set-up, according to Herald Sun reporter Jon Ralph<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The NFL in February confirmed a \u201cmulti-year\u201d commitment<\/a> to play at the MCG, with the Los Angeles Rams locked in for the first instalment next year against an opponent yet to be determined.<\/p>\n

The date of the match also hasn\u2019t been confirmed, but NFL executive of club business and league events Peter O\u2019Reilly said earlier this year his league would aim for the match to be played in week one of its 2026-27 season. That would mean an NFL match at the MCG in early September, which would clash with the AFL finals series during a time where the Aussie code owns the iconic venue.<\/p>\n

FOX FOOTY, available on Kayo Sports, is the only place to watch every match of every round in the 2025 Toyota AFL Premiership Season LIVE in 4K, with no ad-breaks during play. New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1.<\/a><\/p>\n

Speaking on Fox Footy\u2019s Midweek Tackle on Tuesday night, Ralph insisted the AFL had always been \u201creally on board\u201d with the NFL\u2019s Australian play, adding it wasn\u2019t a situation where \u201cthey can exert their will against a rival code\u201d.<\/p>\n

But with the NFL game now likely to fall on the second weekend of September, Ralph said \u201cthere\u2019s no easy answers\u201d for the AFL.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe NFL is about to seriously upset the AFL\u2019s finals plans next year,\u201d Ralph told Fox Footy\u2019s Midweek Tackle.<\/p>\n

Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan, Minister for Tourism, Sport and Major Events Steve Dimopoulos with LA Rams NFL players Kobie Turner and Steve Avila at the MCG. Picture: NewsWire \/ Andrew HenshawSource: News Corp Australia<\/p>\n

\u201cMy understanding is that Friday September 11 is the likely date for that clash. Friday morning in Melbourne, Thursday night (USA time) in Round 1 of the NFL season.<\/p>\n

\u201cA Friday morning clash there would mean that it\u2019s semi-final weekend. What happens for the AFL? What happens if say Carlton and Collingwood both qualify for those home semi-finals?<\/p>\n

\u201cThe AFL and the MCC could turn around a game into a Saturday night game. (But) they don\u2019t do Sunday finals.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ralph highlighted a suggestion from former Collingwood president Edde McGuire, who sits on the Visit Victoria board, to shift the AFL 2026 season start and end dates.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is that situation where the AFL has a clear weekend. Eddie McGuire has talked about pushing the entire season back two weeks to an October Grand Final,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Fox Footy commentator Corbin Middlemas added: \u201cI like Eddie\u2019s theory of pushing it back, I think that would work really well. You could have your pre-finals bye while that\u2019s happening and avoid whatever clash there could be.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ralph: Bobby Hill isn’t going anywhere! | 00:25<\/p>\n

But Ralph said McGuire\u2019s suggestion was \u201cunlikely\u201d to come to fruition.<\/p>\n

Fellow Herald Sun reporter Lauren Wood told Midweek Tackle: \u201cWell they\u2019re known for the big hits in the NFL \u2013 and it\u2019s well and truly on a collision course.\u201d<\/p>\n

MCC chief executive Stuart Fox earlier this year said he was confident the MCG turf would hold up if a quick turnaround time between codes was required.<\/p>\n

\u201cHistory shows we can turn the ground very quickly, we\u2019ve done it for State of Origin, we do it every weekend for three or four games of football, we\u2019ve done it with EPL,\u201d Fox told SEN.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s going to be a challenge for our team but that\u2019s what our team do for a living, they run a stadium and I think they do it pretty well.\u201d<\/p>\n

Victorian premier Jacinta Allen said recently of the fixture concerns: \u201cThere won\u2019t be a clash. We\u2019re putting together a committee to make sure the timing works for everyone, the AFL, the NFL, and the stadium.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The NFL\u2019s first venture into Australia could force the AFL into reshaping its 2026 semi-final set-up, according to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":14798,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[559],"tags":[2095,16296,64,63,689,3423,14349,1129,10133,16300,15830,16291,16289,16306,16286,13213,16293,16305,9130,16292,16287,16288,681,15631,16297,1263,647,9139,16299,593,2041,2067,677,16301,16303,85,16294,16302,16295,16298,2614,660,16290,16304],"class_list":["post-14797","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nfl","tag-america","tag-andrew-henshaw","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australia-and-new-zealand","tag-ben-waterworth","tag-bobby-hill","tag-charlie-curnow","tag-collingwood-magpies","tag-collision-course","tag-corbin-middlemas","tag-corporacion-mondragon","tag-eddie-mcguire","tag-end-dates","tag-extravaganza-date","tag-finals-series","tag-fixture-concerns","tag-game-date","tag-gold-coast-suns","tag-home-semi-finals","tag-jacinta-allan","tag-jacinta-allen","tag-jon-ralph","tag-lauren-wood","tag-league-events","tag-los-angeles-rams","tag-melbourne","tag-national-football-league","tag-newswire-photos","tag-nfl","tag-north-america","tag-northern-america","tag-oceania","tag-season-start","tag-semi-final-set-up","tag-sports","tag-steve-dimopoulos","tag-stuart-fox","tag-timing-works","tag-turnaround-time","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-victoria","tag-victorian-premier","tag-visit-victoria-board"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14797","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14797"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14797\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14798"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14797"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14797"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14797"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}